Coin-actuated vending-machine



4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

' (No Model.)

J P BERETTA com AGT'UATED VENDING'M'AGHINE.

No. 527,930. Pat ntedO ct. 23,1894.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets- 8mm; 2.

, J. P BBRETTA.

, 00m AGTUATED VENDING MACHINE. No. 527,930. Patented Oct. 23, 1894.

4 Sheqts-$heet 3.

(NoMode'L) J. P. BBRETTA.

GQIN A'GTUATED VENDING MACHINE. i No. 527,930. Patented-Oct. 29 1894.

mus PETERS co Mom-Lima. wxsnmcn'om u. I:v

(NoModelL) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

I J. P. BBRETTA. GOIN AGTUATED VENDING MACHINE.

Patented 001:. 23,1894.

' {ENNNIIIIIIIII UnrrEo TATES PATENT OiFFiQE.

JOSEPH P. BE'RETTA, on CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

COlN-ACTUATED VENDING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 527,930, dated October23, 1894. Application filed April 25 1894. Serial No. 508,927. (Nomodel.)

T0 at whom it may concern. 1

Be it known that I, JOSEPH P. BERETTA, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCoin-Actuated Vending-Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to a certain new and improved device for thedelivery of articles of merchandise to the public upon the placing of aproper coin in an opening adapted to the reception thereof, and theoperation of a suitable handle, convenientlylocated and extendingoutside of the casing of the ma. chine. p

The invention consists in certain improvements pointed out in the claimsappended hereto and embodied in the preferred construction describedbelow.

Said construction consists in its preferred form, first, of a suitablecasing containing a coin-receiving opening and a money box to retain thecoins until takenup by the collector; second, of a storage receptacleadapted to contain a supply of the goods to be sold, and provided withauxiliary devices adapted to present the separate packages of saidgoods, one after another, at the delivery opening; third, an automaticgate controlled by the packages of merchandise and adapted to closethecoin-receiving opening when the supply is exhausted;fourth,suitablyoperated delivering devices adapted to discharge saidpackages one at a time from the delivery opening; fifth, an operatinghandle provided with coin actuated connecting devices put in operationby the passage of a suitable coin through the same and adapted tooperate the delivering devices; sixth, means for disposing of coins ofless size than those desired; seventh, means for displaying coins of theproper size to aid in the prevention of fraud by means of counterfeitcoins; eighth, means for changing and attracting attention toadvertisements by the movement of the operating handle.

The drawings by means of which said preferred construction isillustrated consistof sixteen figures, of which Figure 1 is a frontelevation of the entire apparatus.

sect-iontin line 22, of Fig. 1 and looking in Fig. 2 is a verticaltransverse dicated by the line 5-5, in Fig. 8, and looking in thedirection of the arrow 5, in the same figure. Fig. 6 is alsoadetailsection inline 66, of Fig. 9, and lookingin an opposite directionfrom that of the previous sections as indicated by arrow 6, in the samefigure. Fig. 7 is a broken view of certain parts seen in looking at thesection shown in Fig. 4: from the arrow 7, of said figure. Fig. 8 isafront elevation of a portion of the machine with the front coverremoved. Fig. 9 is an inclinedtransverse section cut in line 99, of Fig,3; and looking downward as indicated by the arrow 9.

i Fig. 10 is an inclined section in line 10-10 of Fig. 4 looking in thedirection of the arrow 10. Fig. 11 is a rear elevation of certaininternal portions of the machine just forward of the rear cover or backthereof. Fig.

12 is an enlarged front elevation of certain devices for displaying thecoins to view. Fig. 13 is a similar view showing certain parts in adifferent position. Fig. 14: is a section of Fig. 12 in line 14-14,looking in the direction of the arrow 14. Fig. 15 is a View looking downupon theparts shown in Fig. 4, as indicated by the arrow 15, and Fig. 16is a similar view showing the parts in a diif'eren t position.

The case is lettered A, (see Figs. 1 and 2) y and is here shown as largeenough to contain a number of duplicatemachines for the delivery of asmany varieties of merchandise. Said easing contains a series of slots,a, one .for' each machine of just sufficient size to receive the propercoin. A locked and hinged door, a,,with mirror in front furnishesaccessto the main portion of the interior and a locked and sliding drawerextending through the entire width of the Gas ing as shown in sectionata in Fig. 2, is properly located to receive the coins after the samehave passed through the operating devices of the different machines.

Within the interior of the casing and just back of the door, a, is aseries of shelves,

B, inclined downward and backward and pro vided at their rear ends withgates, 19, hinged upon horizontal axes and resting under the influenceof gravity each upon the one next below. Behind the shelves, B,sufficient room is left for the passage of the packages of merchandiseand at the lowest shelf a trough, b, commences leading to a tray, W,from which the goods can be reached from the outside of the machine.

In filling the machine, the door, a, is opened, the trough, b, is firstfilled, then the space behind the shelves, B, and afterward the shelvesthemselves. As these packages, X, are discharged through the gate, D,those from the top shelf roll backward into the vertical passage behindthe same, the packages in the other shelves beingkept in place by thegates, b, which ,are held shut by the packages, X, which rest againstthem. The shelves will thus be emptied from the top downward until allthe packages are discharged through the gate, D.

A hinged arm, 0 is located immediately above the lowest package ofmerchandise in the spout, b, and is arranged to be held upward by thepackages in the position seen in Fig. 3, as long as any of the packagesremain to be sold. This arm is pivoted at its free end to a curved rod,0 which extends upward and is pivoted to one arm, 0 (see Fig. 6) of abent lever which is pivoted at c, and whose other arm, 0, carries ashut-off gate, 0, adapted, when closed, to prevent the insertion ofcoins in the slot, at. As long as the arm, a, is held upward by apackage of merchandise, these parts will remain in the positions shownin Figs. 3 and 6. When, however, the last package is discharged all ofsaid parts drop downward under the influence of gravity and the shut-offgate, 0, drops in front of the slot, at.

The mechanism for delivering the packages, X, one at a time, through thespout, b, consists of a pair of sliding gates D, D. (See Fig. 3.) Thesegates are operated by means of links, d d pivoted at one end to thegates and at the other end to the opposite sides of the pivoted frame,F, by means of which the two gates are alternately opened and closedcutting out one package of merchan dise every time the gate, D, isopened and allowing the next package to advance to said gate every timethe gate, D, is opened. Each of these gates is carried by sliding rods,(1', (see Figs. 4 and 10,) to'which they are connected by means of ears,d. The sliding rods are guided in eyes, (1 formed upon a bracket, of,secured to the casing.

The bracket, a extends upward and to the front of the casing where itcarries a suitable chute, leading from the slot, 0., and inclineddownward and backward, so that the coins may roll back to the operatingdevices beyond. An operating handle, E, is pivoted upon a shaft, e,andextends out through a slot, a, in the front of the casing, theportionoutside of the casing beingadapted to be grasped by the hand. The handleextends inward beyond the pivot (see Fig. 5) and carries at its innerend a block, 6, pivoted to the handle at e the handle passing through aslot in the block. A spring, e is also secured to the inner end of thehandle pressing upon the end of the block. Said block carries upon itsback a short curved trough, (2, adapted when in the proper position toact as a continuation of the trough, 0. The pivoted block, a, has uponone side, namely that shown in Fig. 5, alug, 6 having acam-shapedshoulder, e extending laterally over the in ner end of the trough, a, aswill be seen in Fig. 4, and the bottom of said trough is high enough tostop the proper coin at Y in said figure, resting against saidcam-shoulder, e, at its starting point. (See Fig. 4:.) This shoulder isso shaped with respect to the bottom of said trough at 0 (see Fig. 4)that as the outer end of the handle, E, is lifted, the coin, Y, rollsalong the trough and presses upward against the shoulder, 6*, raisingand holding the upper end of the pivoted block, 12, until the positionshown in Fig. 6 is reached, when said shoulder, 6 has passed completelyover the coin and the latter rolls through the trough, a, into a tube,a, (see Fig. 4:) having a flaring mouth, a adapted to receive it. Uponthe opposite side of the pivoted block, e, which is shown in Fig. 6, isa second lug extending upon both sides of the pivot to form oppositelypointed pawls, or detents, a", 6 and upon the pivot, e, which will beseen in Fig.8 to be a rod of some considerable length, is also pivotedan oscillating frame, F, which, as before stated, is connected to thedelivery gates by means of the links, ri and which has upon the side ofthe pivot, which bears upon the outside gate, D, a weighted portion, f.Upon the opposite side of the pivot it has at its respective ends asectorshaped plate, f, (see Fig. 6) and arm, f (See Fig. 3.) The convexedge of the plate, f,contains two notches, f f adapted to be alternatelyengaged by the pawls, e", 6 and also a third notch,f adapted to beengaged by a gravity pawl, f pivoted at f, to the bracket, a

Both the handle and the oscillating frame are shown in their normalposition in Figs. 3 and 4, that is the outer portion of the handle isshown as far down. as it will go and the swinging frame has reached itslimit of movement under the gravity of the weighted portion,f. If theproper coin is placed in the slot, a, when the handle is in the positionshown in Fig. 4 it will stop at Y. If now the handle be raised slightlyas shown in Fig. 5, the coin tilts the pivoted block, 6, until the pawl,e enters the notch, f and, at the same time, the opposite end of theblock lifts the pawl,f from the notch,f thus releasing the oscillatingframe from the bracket, a and engaging it with the operating handle. Ifnow the handle be still further raised, the

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coin rolling along the shoulder, e will hold the pawl, e", in placeuntil the limit of the desired motion is reached when the coin rollsonward, the spring, a releases the pawl, 6 and the oscillating framereturns to its normal position because of the weight, f, where it ischecked by the rubber bumper, a. (See Fig 6.) As soon as the handle isreleased it drops down of its own weight. The raising of the handle thusopens the gate, D, to release the lowest package of merchandise andshuts the gate, D, to cut off the next, and the return of theoscillating frame closes the gate, D, and opens the gate, D, to allowthe next package to take the place of the one which has just beendischarged.

The mechanism above described is complete and sufficient so far as theactuationiof the delivery mechanism by the proper coin is concerned. Itis, however, desirable that certain auxiliary devices be added toprevent the manipulation of the machine by means of a coin of smallersize than that desired, the insertion of larger coins being prevented bythe size of the slot. When the handle is in its most usual position,which is that seen in Fig. 4, there is sufficient space between theshoulder, c and the bottom of the trough, of, to allow a coin of smallersize to roll beneath said shoulder and a thin plate, g, attached to thepivoted plate, 6', turns said coin to one side into a tube, G, throughwhich it has an unobstructed passage to the money drawer, a This plate,g, is fastened to the pivoted block, e, andmoves with the latter so asto not be in the way of the lug, c, When the latter is brought downwardby the raising of the outside handle. As the shoulder, 6 tends toapproach the bottom of the trough, a when the handle is raised, Iprovide another by-pass to take care of the small coins when the handleis not in the position seen in Fig. 4. To do this I make a portion a ofthe trough, a, adjacent to the slot, a, independent of the remainder ofthe trough and give it a slight lateral tension, sothat if unresisted itwill swing to one side into register with a tube, g, (see Fig. 4)leading to the tube, G, the entrance to said tube being sufiicient toadmit smaller coins, but not those intended to operate the machine. Toforce this portion, w, of the trough, a into line with the remainderofsaid trough when the handle is in the position seen in Fig. 4, I providean arm, 9 best seen in Figs. 4, 15, and 16, said arm having acam-surface, g and the portion, (1 of the trough being provided with alug, g adapted to slide under said cam-surface until the two portions ofthe trough, a are brought into line. This occurs every time the handleis raised and as soon as it is lowered, the portion, a, of the trough,or, being released springs to one side into register with the by-pass, g

As it is sometimes found that machines of this class are defrauded bymeans of metal disks of the same size and shape as the desired coins Ihave provided a check upon this sort of manipulation by adding to mymachine means for exposing to view a few of the coins last insertedwhich have actuated The plate is movedback and forthby means of a link,h ,pivoted at one end to the plate, h and engaging at the other end witha pin,

h by means of a slot, 71], to allow of a certain amount of lost motionbecause of the greater range of movement of the oscillating frame, F,which carries the pin, it. The two gates, h, h, in Fig. 12, are arrangedso that the former closes the tube, aflwhen the sliding plate,.h isdown, as seen in Fig. 12, and the other closes said trough, at adistance beyond sufficient to admit a single coin, when said plate israised. As the plateis moved with the frame,F, and as the latteroperates the delivery mechanismit will be seen that one of the coins inthe tube, a, will be passed through the gates, 72,]?! every timeapackage of merchandise is passed through the gates, D, D, so that if acertain number of coins be placed in the tube, a to start with the samenumber will always be in sight through. the window, H, and the coins inview will be those last inserted in the slot. Thus an attendant bypassing the machines can see at once whether any fraud has beenattempted and such fraud will also be evident to the public, which factsit is thought will act as a check upon persons otherwise inclined tooperate these machines by means of disks of metal made of theproper sizeand shape.

In the upper portion of the case, A, is journaled a drum, K, upon thesurface of which is displayed a series of advertisements and a window,70, is provided in the casing adapted to furnish a view of one of theseadvertise ments as the same is brought in front of the window by therotation of the drum. Just above the troughs, a arod extends from sideto side of the entire machine, said rod being seen in side elevation at70', in Fig. 8 and in cross-section at k in Fig. 4. It is journaled incars, 10 upon the brackets, a

and has a series of arms, k (see Fig. 3) carrying at their ends a seriesof slotted links, M, pivoted to said arms and engaging by means of theslots one of the cross-rods of the oscillating frames, F. At one end ofthe machine the rod, It, carries an arm or crank, 10 (see Figs. 8 and 9)connected by means of a link, is, with a lever, k pivoted at one. end tothelink and weighted at the other end. Said lever is fulcrumed upon thespindle, k of the drum,

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K, and hasa side arm, in, which carries a grav ity pawl, 70 adaptedtoengage with pins, 10

extending from the end of the drum. to move said drum in the properdirection to bring the advertisement into view before the window, 70. Asecond gravity pawl 10 is pivoted to the casing and adapted to engagewith the same pins to prevent rotation of the drum and a cam-shoulder,is provided upon the lever, is", in the proper position to raise thepawl, 10 from the pins, 7t, when the lever is tilted for the purpose ofmoving the drum. There is pivoted to the casing a hammer, is, and abell, 70 is secured to said casing in position to be struck by thehammer which is thrown against said bell by means of a spring, 7a. Apawl, 70, is pivoted to the hammer arm and extends out into the path ofthe free end of the lever, 75. Said pawl engages with the hammer armwhen it is forced downward by means of a stop, 70 but can be movedfreely in the opposite direction. Whenever one of the oscillatingframes, F, is tilted by the insertion of a proper coin and the raisingof the operating handle, said frame draws down the link, 70 to which itis attached, turning the cross-rod, 70', upon its axis and lowering allof the other links 70 which, however, do not disturb the otheroscillating frames F by reason of the slots in the links, 70. As saidcross-rod is turned, the lever, W, at the top of the casing is tiltedringing the bell and turning the roller sufiiciently to change theadvertisement in view, the attention of the operator being called by thebell to the new advertisement as soon as it comes in sight.

In the front of the casing and at one side of each slot I place a glasswindow, m, and behind said window in a glass jar I display a sample ofthe goods to be procured by theinsertion of the proper coin in theadjacent slot.

In the above description I have endeavored to explain specifically theexact construction and arrangement of the different portions of myinvention to enable the same to be thoroughly and easily understood bypersons skilled in the art. I do not, however, intend to thereby limitmyself to the exact details, but will proceed to point outin thefollowing claims the different features and combinations thereof, whichI consider essential to the embodiment of said invention.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a device ofthe class described, the combination with a suitable casing containingthe necessary auxiliary devices, of mechanism for delivering a definitequantity of merchandise from the interior of the casing, a coin chute,an operating handle adapted to be grasped by the hand and acoin-operated pawl adapted to engage the delivering mechanism andpivoted to the handle above the coin chute in position to be raised bysaid coin and thereby engaged with the delivering mechanism;substantially as described.

2. In a coin actuated vending machine, the combination with a suitablecasing containing a receptacle for merchandise and suitable deliveringmechanism, of a pivoted operating handle extending within the casing, ablock pivoted upon said handle and bearing a pawl adapted when in theproper position to engage and operate the delivering mechanism, a coinchute having a bottom eccentric with relation to the handle pivot and alug upon the block extending over the chute and having a cam-surfaceoppositely arranged to the eccentric bottom of said chute, containing ashoulder adapted to engage the proper coin between it and the eccentricbottom of the chute and thereby throw the pawl upon the pivoted blockinto engagement with the delivering mechanism, and a surface adjacent tosaid shoulder adapted to roll along the top of the coin and retain saidpawl in engagement until the action of the delivering mechanism iscompleted; substantially as described.

3. In a device of the class described the combination with the casinghaving suitable coin-actuated delivering devices and an operatinghandle, of a coin chute and a by-pass, said coin chute having a movableportion provided with a spring adapted to put it into register with theby-pass and means connected with the operating handle for forcing saidmovable portion into register with the remainder of the chute when saidoperating handle is in proper position for the insertion of a coin inthe machine; substantially as described.

4. The combination in a coin actuated vendin g machine with a suitablecasing containing a receptacle for merchandise, a coin chute, anoperating handle and coin actuated delivering mechanism adapted to beengaged with said handle by the passage of the proper coin, of a bypassfor smaller coins, and a switch adapted to divert said smaller coinsinto said by-pass, said switch being connected with the operatinghandle, whereby it may be removed from its working position by themovement of the handle; substantially as described.

5. In a coin-actuated vending machine, the combination with a suitablecasing containing a merchandise receptacle and coin-actuated mechanismfor delivering said merchandise, of a movable advertising surface, abell adjacent thereto, a hammer adapted to strike the same, connectingdevices between said delivery mechanism and the advertising surfaceadapted to move said advertising surface and connecting devices betweensaid delivering mechanism and said hammer adapted to operate the latteras each package of merchandise is discharged from the casing;substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, at Chicago, Illinois,this 21st day of April, 1894.

JOSEPH P. BERETTAn Wit nesses:

CHARLES O. SHERVEY, A. I. H. EBBESEN.

